After Bill Ackman hinted that he would unveil his latest investing play at the Grant’s Interest Rate Observer fall conference in New York City, the Pershing Square founder didn’t disappoint. In his first major new position since unveiling his Lowe’s stake in May, Ackman said during an afternoon presentation that his firm had taken a $900 million stake in Starbucks.
Pershing amassed its stake over the last 90 days, and now owns 15 million of Starbucks, which saw its shares surge more than 5% on the headline:
Since exiting his disastrous Herbalife short earlier this year, the embattled investor, who was forced to lay off 20% of his firms’ staff in early 2018 after three consecutive years of losses, has focused instead on taking long positions in more well-established firms in the retail and food-service space (though his firm notably trimmed its Chipotle position during the second quarter after the bet proved profitable).
